Chapter 7
While Clara and Julian mapped out their strategy on the top floor, lower down in the bank’s subterranean parking garage, tension of a different kind was taking root. Marcus Vance, Eleanor’s younger brother and the bank’s head of corporate security, sat in the darkened interior of a black sedan, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were stark white.
Marcus had watched the security footage from the executive suite three times. He saw his sister humiliated, kicked, arrested, and hauled away like a common criminal. But what angered him more than the arrest was the sight of Julian Sterling standing over Clara, validating her evidence.
His cell phone buzzed on the dashboard. He glanced at the screen, seeing an unknown, restricted number flashing. He swiped to answer, pressing the phone to his ear.
"She’s locked up," a low, distorted voice said through the speaker. "The federal magistrates denied bail. The board is scrambling to distance themselves from her."
"They aren't going to distance themselves fast enough," Marcus muttered, his voice trembling with suppressed rage. "Eleanor took the fall to protect the rest of them, and now they’re throwing her to the wolves to save their own bonuses."
"What are your instructions?" the voice asked.
Marcus stared at the concrete pillar in front of his car, his mind calculation the moving parts. "The auditor—the woman in the grey suit named Clara. She’s the linchpin. Without her files, the federal case relies entirely on circumstantial internal memos. If the files disappear, the case crumbles."
"You want us to break into her office?"
"No," Marcus said, a cold calculation replacing his initial panic. "Breaking in leaves too much of a trace. Meridian Trust has redundancies. We need to discredit her before the board meeting tomorrow morning. Dig into her past. Find out where she lived, who she loved, and what she lost. Everyone has a weak spot. We just need to press down hard enough until it breaks."
"Understood," the voice replied before the line went dead.
May you like
Marcus tossed the phone onto the passenger seat and started the engine. He had spent ten years building a fortress of security around Meridian Trust, and he would burn it to the ground before he let an outsider dismantle his family’s legacy.
***
